West Ham are creating the ultimate FIFA team

Part of the fun of the transfer window is contemplating which club will be your team on the next edition of FIFA. FIFA 19 looks like it will have West Ham’s name written all over it, with the club’s transfer spree bringing an array of talented players to London. Manuel Pellegrini will be happy that he has managed to be so busy in the transfer market, and he probably won’t mind at all when you swoop in at the start of your FIFA 19 career and take over the team he has assembled. His new signings should not only be effective in the real world, but also boast qualities that will translate in exciting fashion to FIFA.

West Ham bringing home the bacon

The poster boy for the transfer spree is Felipe Anderson for a club record fee of £36 million from Lazio. The BBC have reported how West Ham bosses have called the Brazilian attacking midfielder one of the most exciting players in Europe. Anderson was actually something of a bit-part player for Lazio last season, with injury and the form of Luis Alberto restricting him to 21 Serie A appearances. Maybe those at the top at West Ham gained their glowing opinion of Anderson from his FIFA stats; a potential rating of 84 on FIFA 18 places him alongside Manuel Lanzini as one of their star players, while a sprint speed and acceleration of 91 and 94 respectively make Anderson the dream FIFA player. Being blessed with pace and the technical ability to back it up is a hallowed combination.

Jack Wilshere brings strong passing ability, with a short passing and ball control rating of 84. Unsurprisingly, Wilshere carries the injury-prone trait on FIFA because of his struggles with fitness in real life, but this is a player touted to be one of the world’s leading central midfielders when he emerged onto the scene. If he can avoid injury on FIFA then he will be a guaranteed starter for West Ham, with the FIFA gamers having the added bonus of not having to deal with his occasionally fiery persona.

Andriy Yarmolenko seems to have been around for ages, but at an age of 27 the Ukrainian forward is ready to make a mark on a big league in a way that he couldn’t at Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund are blessed with an embarrassment of speedy attacking riches, so FIFA and football managers alike may have seen cause to overlook Yarmolenko. At West Ham, he is the kind of player who can take them to the next level. His dribbling of 87 and strength of 81 will make him difficult to shrug off the ball, with FIFA gamers having the added bonus of not having to deal with his occasionally volatile personality. With characters like Wilshere and Yarmolenko, Pellegrini is going to have an interesting dressing room.

Jack Wilshere

A FIFA challenge

Ryan Fredericks (sprint speed 94), Fabian Balbuena (potential rating 80), Lukasz Fabianski (current rating 80) and Issa Diop (potential rating 86) round off the incoming arrivals to West Ham. In particular, Diop could turn out to be a stunning signing. Sky Sports reported how West Ham fought off interest from European heavyweights Monaco and Sevilla to capture the signature of Toulouse’s 20-year-old captain, with the centre-back’s FIFA 18 strength rating of 86 marking his potential to become a formidable defender. West Ham are investing significantly in hope of making the jump from mid-table to European regulars. As of 17th July, the Hammers are 250/1 with Betway to win the Premier League, placing them in the company of Everton and Leicester. However, if the signings are embedded quickly into life in London then West Ham will be fancying their chances to spring a surprise.

Plus, their outsider status makes them an appealing FIFA challenge. Especially if Pellegrini struggles to integrate his new signings quickly, when FIFA 19 hits the stores there will be a multitude of gamers eager to see if they can do better. As mentioned above, some of these new signings are big characters who are not averse to trouble in real life. Throw in the presence of the combustible Marko Arnautovic and it is clear that Pellegrini will have his work cut out in keeping the dressing room positive. There is then the added issue of finding a system that accommodates all of his attacking talents. FIFA players can get stuck into that second issue without having to worry about potential problems off the pitch to the same extent. If players can’t find a system that works then the likes of Felipe Anderson and Ryan Fredericks are really quite fast, so that helps.